“Again I kissed his feet and bade him farewell, and after tarrying for three days in Cairo, returned to my own country. When I arrived there I foregathered with my mother, and after I had related to her all that had happened, we hastened together to the buried treasure. We opened the door, and when we entered we saw upon that oft mentioned stand my darling, my beloved, Mihr-i-Dil. My senses and understanding forsook me, and I abode for a while confounded. When she saw me she arose; and there was a paper in her hand which she presented to me. It was signed with the Shaykh’s signature, and there was written thereon: ‘My son, ‘Abd-us-Samed, the reason why thy father and myself deemed it good to subject thee to these trials is this, that having therefore endured toil and trouble, thou mightest know that a virtuous wife is worth many treasures such as this, and consider whether it were more desirable to find upon this stand an image which were worth the world, or better to find thereon the lovely Mihr-i-Dil. Now thou shalt know the value of the latter to the end of thy life; and she is thy wedded wife.’ “Now, my lord (Prince Asīl), that is the reason of one of the stands being empty; the image belonging to that stand is the mistress of our harem, the mother of Shīve-Zād.”[65] ALAEDDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP. Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, how rare is thy tale and delectable!” whereto quoth Shahrazad, “And what is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night concerning Alaeddin[66] and the Enchanted Lamp, an this my lord the King leave me on life?” The King said to himself, “By Allah, I will not slay her until she tell me the whole tale.” Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fourteenth Night, Quoth Dunyazad,[67] to Shahrazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us some of thy pleasant tales;” and quoth she “With love and good will: I will relate to you the story of _ALAEDDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP._”